I think I already know what I need to do, I just need to hear it from someone else...

At around 81,000 miles I joined the new engine club. Reman was installed by dealership under warranty. Less than 300 miles later, my clutch starts slipping. I just thought it was an odd coincidence that it should go so shortly after the engine, so I ordered an Exedy Stage 1 and got to work replacing it today. When I pulled the pressure plate, the old clutch disk and flywheel both had a good film of grease on them. Toward the center of the disk, you can see a spray pattern where the grease splattered from the splinned shaft. Pressure plate side of clutch disk is clean. Thinking the Mazda mech over-greased the shaft, I cleaned the flywheel off, installed the new clutch and bolted up the tranny. I didn't remove the flywheel or pilot bearing since they both have less than 1,000 miles on them.

I got almost everything back together when it dawned on me - I didn't check the pilot bearing seal. Is it possible the seal was installed incorrectly, or not at all, and it caused this problem? I really don't want to pull it all back apart...